In an aircraft, for example in an Airbus A380, a network may be installed, which may connect various devices with each other within the aircraft. Such an aircraft network may be denoted as ADCN (Aircraft Data Communication Network). Various devices, which may comprise a processing unit with its own software and its own processor, may be connected to such a network. These devices may be denoted as CPIOM (Core Processing Input Output Module).
The processing units or CPIOMs may carry out different programs or applications simultaneously. The respective program software for the application may be loaded manually through the network (ADCN) after the installation of the processing unit in the aircraft, i.e., after the processing unit has been integrated into the network. The software which is loaded onto the corresponding CPIOMs may be taken from storage. Alternatively, a processing unit (CPIOM) may be stored with pre-installed software, and the software may be pre-loaded in the workshop or may be loaded into or onto the CPIOM.
The storage of pre-installed CPIOM modules may make it necessary for a number of different processing units or CPIOMs to stored, which due to the different software may also comprise different item numbers or part numbers. For example, one aircraft may have seven different processing units and thus seven different part numbers. Because of the pre-configuration, the processing units of the CPIOMs may not be interchangeable.
In view of the foregoing, there may at least a need for providing an efficient operating of an aircraft network. In addition, other needs, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.